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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0272.PDF
asi MAT II, 1922 LONDON TERMINAL AERODROME Monday evening, May 9, 1922. SEVERAL of the new machines that the various British companies have been anxiously awaiting were put on the service during the week. The first of the Handley Page W.8 b's returned from Martlesham Heath, where it had been undergoing type tests, and made its maiden trip to Paris—with Mr. Wilcockson as pilot—on Thursday. At Martlesham the machine lifted 300 lbs. above its stated toad with ease. The Instone D.H. 34, which has been to Martlesham under going type-tests, was also delivered at. the aerodrome this week. The Instone Air Line are experimenting with a three- blader Leitner metal propeller on one of their D.H. 34's. When first fitted, this propeller caused too much vibration, but slight adjustments in the pitch remedied this, and perfectly smooth running was obtained. Mr. Barnard took the " 34 " up for a trial flight, and expressed himself as being satisfied with the machine's performance, and it now remains to be seen by actual trial how this propeller will stand up under ordinary airway usage. The present " prop " was hand-made, but it is expected that when there is a reasonable expectation of good orders dies will be made and a much-improved " prop " produced. Mr. Powell took one of the Instone 34's to Paris on Saturday morning, and made quite a good take-off, while several of the Instone pilots have been getting their hands in on this new machine during the week-end. The Daimler Airways have been running two services in each direction daily with one machine. The second of the D.H. 34's, although delivered, is not yet on the service, and all the work last week fell on one machine—G-EBBS. On Wednesday, however, the service was suspended while the engine of this machine was changed, this process taking all day, owing to the fact that the new engine-changing arrange ments are not yet completed. As they had a couple of passengers on this day for Paris, a De Havilland air-taxi, with Mr. Cobham as pilot, was hired from Stag Lane. Much comment was caused by this, as it is the usual thing on the aerodrome for a company which for some reason is unable to carry passengers they have booked to transfer them to another air-line which has room in a departing machine. Activity with the Early-Morning Services THE competition between the early morning 'planes is becoming keener. Three machines now leave in the early hours, the Messageries newspaper machine being scheduled out of Croydon as early as 5 a.m. The Instone newspaper air express leaves at 6 a.m.. and the Daimler Airways send a machine at 6.45 a.m. The other morning the pilot of the Messageries machine, M. Deniieulin, overslept himself in the Trust House, and had to be fetched from his bedroom when the machine was loaded and ready to get away. The keen ness amongst the pilots may be gauged from the fact that M. Denneulin, rather than delay the machine while he dressed, flew off to Paris in his pyjamas. Mr. Larry Carter had an unusual experience while flying the 10-seater Bristol from Paris to London on Wednesday. Just as he rose from the ground at Le Bourget one of the joints of his under-carriage became loose, and a portion of the under-carriage was left hanging down. This was quite un noticed by Mr. Carter, but the officials at Le Bourget saw what had happened and wirelessed to Croydon a full description of the occurrence. The wireless operators at Croydon, as soon as Mr. Carter came within speaking range, " rang him up " and told him what had happened. Mr. Carter, being thus warned of what difficulties weie in store for him when the time came for him to land, was able so to manoeuvre his machine that, after a landing which excited the admiration of all the pilots on the aerodrome, only the tip of one wing was damaged. Had he not been made aware of the breakage in the under-carriage it is highly probable that a serious crash would have resulted. A Queer Mishap on the Aerodrome ANOTHER accident occurred on Thursdav while the Grands Express Goliath, which had just flown "from France, was being taxied into the shed. Just as the big machine was about to enter the shed, there being only a few feet clearance between the wing-tips and the walls, the mechanic who was taxying the machine inadvertently put his engines full on, with the result that the machine ran into the wall of the shed, knocking a hole through it. The front of the projecting cabin was completely smashed by its contact with the wall, but neither of the " props " was touched. As the Goliath swung into the wall one wing caught a Breguet which was standing near and twisted its fuselage. A mechanic sustained slight injuries. The first consignments of strawberries are now arriving from France by air, and the Customs House has had a pleasant aroma these last few days, which, combined with the sudden arrival of fine weather, led one pilot to suggest to Captain Leverton that it was about time the cream arrived by air from Holland. One of the regular pastimes now for pilots flying between London and Paris on the British machines equipped with wireless is to ring one another up and have a chat'in the air. On Saturday further tests, this time successful, were carried out with the new parachute which is designed to lift a pilot out of a machine falling out of control. This time the tests were made with a triple parachute, a very small one being first released, which pulls out a slightly larger one, which, in turn, exerts sufficient pull to release the large man-carrying parachute that finally lifts the pilot out of his seat. An ordinary parachute descent was also made. Friday morning was particularly rough from a weather point of view, the wind being very gusty and uneven. Mr. Pyll, one of the new Dutch pilots of the K.L.M., had a strenuous time getting the monoplane away at 10 a.m. These machines are very awkward to handle in a wind, as the wings are difficult to get at, but now Mr. Leverton has had some hooks fitted on the end of a long pr>ie, so that two mechanics, one on each wing can hold the machine comfort ably. Mr. Leverton went down to Lympne during the week with a pair of these hooks, so that a monoplane force-landing there in a wind will be in no danger of being blown over. Fokker Monoplanes with Rolls-Royce Engines I UNDERSTAND that two Fokker monoplanes of the F.3 type, but fitted with Rolls-Royce 360 horse-power engines instead of 240 Pumas, are to be put on the London-Amsterdam service. These machines, while retaining the same passenger capacity (five), will have another compartment added for goods and luggage They are intended to do the double trip in one day, and Messrs. Hofstra and Geysendorfer will be the pilots for the first month or so. On Sunday the third of the D.H. 34's delivered to the Daimler Airways was put on the service, and on Monday morning, piloted by Mr. Heme, this machine did the double trip to Paris, taking two hours only in each direction. Monday saw the opening of the Instone Air Lines service to Brussels. Captain Guest was down at the air-station to send the first machine away. Piloted by Mr. Barnard, it left at 10.48 a.m. It was Mi. Barnard's intention to fly over and photograph the royal yacht with the King and Queen on board, while over the middle of the Channel. At the same time Mr. Cobham left for Brussels, with a newspaper photographer, both he and Mr. Barnard intending to return late the same night with photographs of .the arrival of the King and Queen in Brussels. Captain Cockerill flew the first Vir.kers "Vulcan' over from Brooklands on Monday. Captain Cockerill tell;, me that the machine cruises at about 85 miles an hour, and it certainly lands at a very safe speed, while it gets off with its load after a comparatively short run. After the Brussels machine had left, and the distinguished visitors had departed for town. Captain Cockerill flew the " Vulcan " back to Brooklands to have the finishing touches added. Recent Improvements THE last of the new offices, that of the Marconi Co., is now nearly completed. Half of this is to be occupied by Messrs. Ogilvie and Partners, while the other portion is divided into an inner office and a store for flying helmets equipped with wireless 'phones. Mr. Strother, who has been associated with the aerodrome since its earliest days, is to be in charge of this office. The small enclosure, where the traffic movement board and the weather reports are on view, has proved such a great attraction to the general public that it has had to be railed off. Although there has been a large sign with the words " No admittance " prominently exhibited, nobody appears to have taken any notice of it, and at times pilots have been unable to get near the weather reports for the crowd of interested spectators—which, just now, is composed largely of schoolboys on holiday. Some of the little obstruction flags that besprinkle the aerodrome so plentifully at the present time, mark the spot where the electricians are busily renewing the glass covers over the electric landing lights. The mortality among these covers is, I am informed, remarkably high, the tail skids of the aeroplanes—especially the new heavy types- causing considerable damage. 272
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